Romney raised $40.1 million in April--OFA pushes back on Crossroads--Chicago will accuse Romney of planning to cut vets benefits--RNC will bypass Nevada GOP--LCV tries to stop Rodriguez comeback

SNEAK PEEK – CHICAGO RESPONDS TO CROSSROADS AD: Deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter has recorded a three-minute web video forcefully pushing back on the new Crossroads GPS ad that attacks Barack Obama. “Time to tear this thing apart,” she says, smiling. She notes that 5.9 million homeowners have been helped with their mortgages, middle class taxes are now near the lowest point since the 1950s and that people who like their current health plan can keep it under federal health reform. Interspersed are clips of and attacks on Romney. “So another special interest attack ad, another set of outright distortions and another time when I need to ask you to do what you do best: get the president’s back,” she says. “Karl Rove is relying on you doing nothing to call out his B.S., and I know you’ll prove him wrong.” The Crossroads ad in question: http://bit.ly/JKjnVW. Stephanie’s video: http://bit.ly/JiCY2i.

Story Continued Below

CHICAGO’S MESSAGE – ROMNEY WANTS TO CUT VETERANS’ BENEFITS: The reelection campaign will launch “Veterans & Military Families for Obama” today, with a field outreach effort in swing states and a kick-off event in Norfolk, Virginia. On a 12:30 ET conference call, campaign officials will attack Romney for supporting a budget that they say would cut veterans’ spending by $11 billion a year. They’ll contrast that against Barack Obama’s record as commander-in-chief (bringing home troops from Iraq) and stress his deep concern for wounded warriors. To win earned media for their push, OFA is doing phone banks, press conferences and house parties in 16 states: Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Michigan, North Carolina, New Mexico, New Hampshire, and Colorado. Surrogates being mobilized include Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden (the vice president’s son), Lt. Governor Anthony Brown (Martin O’Malley’s #2), Rep. Silvestre Reyes (Latino), and OFA National Veterans & Military Families Outreach Director Rob Diamond.

BREAKING – ROMNEY, RNC RAISED $40.1 MILLION IN APRIL: “Mr. Romney and the R.N.C. raised $40.1 million in April, just shy of the $43.6 million that Mr. Obama and the Democratic National Committee raised for the month,” the New York Times reports this morning. “The contributions on behalf of Mr. Romney represent a huge jump over the $12.6 million that his campaign raised in March. The increase was made possible by donors coalescing around Mr. Romney as the nominee and the larger donations that can be directed to the party…In a statement set to go out on Thursday morning, Mr. Romney’s campaign will report a cash-on-hand total of $61.4 million as of the end of April. The campaign says that 95 percent of the donations in April were $250 or less.” http://nyti.ms/JixOn4

MITT RAISED $2 MILLION YESTERDAY: Romney told donors in South Florida last night that his haul on Wednesday alone was about $2 million. “All told, his campaign could raise as much as $10 million on the two-day fundraising swing,” reports The Miami Herald’s Marc Caputo. http://bit.ly/JMQIi7

BRACKETING BIDEN – RNC TO ATTACK ON COAL: As Vice President Joe Biden spends another day stumping in Ohio, the Republican National Committee will highlight the results in West Virginia last week – where a felon got more than 40 percent of the vote against the president – to talk about the Obama-Biden record on coal. They are going up with a web video of them attacking coal (not cool out where the VPOTUS is today), a research piece on how Coal Country is feeling the pain in this economy and a 9:40 a.m. press call with Ohio Congressman Bill Johnson. Watch: http://bit.ly/Jy3zbz. Read: http://bit.ly/KhvKFg.

SHOWDOWN AT THE NAPLES SPAGHETTI HOUSE: Romney spokesman Ryan Williams, shadowing Biden in Ohio, ended up at the same restaurant where the vice president ate last night. Biden called him over to his table and offered him a seat. “Williams declined the seat, he told The [Columbus] Dispatch, and then proceeded to quiz Biden on his opposition to coal. ‘The vice president was very cordial,’ Ryan told The Dispatch, of the meeting, before criticizing Biden and the Obama administration's policies toward coal.” Former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, who was there, said the human bracketing didn’t bother Biden much. http://bit.ly/LefrzY

As Nate Silver forecasts a 50-50 Senate, the first debate of the Arizona special election ends with both candidates calling each other a liar and Kucinich announces that he really is going to retire, here’s POLITICO’s Morning Score: your daily guide to the permanent campaign.

WHAT ROMNEY IS UP TO: Continuing Florida swing, he hosts a 2:35 event at River City Brewing in Jacksonville.

WHAT OBAMA IS UP TO: No public events.

WHAT BIDEN IS UP TO: At 10:15, the Vice President will deliver remarks at a campaign event in Martins Ferry, Ohio. Later, the Vice President will return to Wilmington, Delaware.

LATEST POLLING—

FOX NEWS national: Obama, 46; Romney, 39. Buzzy question from the poll: If you were hiring a life coach, who would you hire? Obama, 47; Romney, 33; Neither, 14; Either, 1. http://fxn.ws/Jy9jC0

FIRST IN SCORE – LCV TARGETS RODRIGUEZ IN TEXAS HOUSE PRIMARY: The League of Conservation Voters will launch a $95,296 mail program to defeat former Congressman Ciro Rodriguez in the upcoming May 29th Democratic primary for Texas’ 23rd congressional district. The program will include four flights of mail targeting 42,000 households throughout the district. The mail pieces highlight “Rodriguez’s record of standing with corporate polluters, instead of supporting President Obama’s clean energy jobs policies.” Rodriguez lost in 2010, and he faces two Democratic primary opponents (including Pete Gallego, who is better funded) in the San Antonio area district. The winner will face vulnerable freshman Republican Quico Canseco. Negative piece 1: http://bit.ly/KgfYMt. 2: http://bit.ly/KnWhm3. 3: http://bit.ly/KSaFVN.

NEW MEXICO SNEAK PEEK – MARTY CHAVEZ CAN THROW A PUNCH: Former Albuquerque Mayor Marty Chavez, running for a Democratic congressional nomination, will debut a new ad today that features him getting punched in the chest by local professional boxer Josh "Pit Bull" Torres. The point is that he’s shown he can take punches from special interests. At the end, he says he can throw punches too and knocks out “Pit Bull.” It was filmed in the historic Jack Candelaria/San Jose gym. It highlights his endorsement from Bill Clinton. Alex Isenstadt got the ad. Watch: http://bit.ly/JJXiGX.

TOP TALKER – RNC, ROMNEY WILL BYPASS NEVADA STATE GOP: “Fed up with an inept and self-destructive GOP apparatus in Nevada, the Republican National Committee and the Mitt Romney campaign have decided to erect a ‘shadow state party’ in this critical swing state, sources confirmed” yesterday to The Las Vegas Sun’s Jon Ralston. “They are still bogged down in the minutiae of whether Romney will be the presumptive nominee,” scoffed a GOP strategist familiar with the details of the restructuring. “We don’t have time for that when the Obama campaign already is in full campaign mode. We have no use for them (the state GOP).” Why: “The lack of faith in the Republican Party here intensified with the botched February caucus, metastasized after the Ron Paul takeover in Sparks and reached its zenith with Tuesday evening’s call for RNC Chairman Reince Priebus to resign by a divided Clark County GOP.” How it works: “The plan would be to transfer money directly to Team Nevada and/or funnel some through the Washoe Republican Party, run by the respected Dave Buell, who is well-liked by the RNC and Romney folks.”

MORE FROM A GOP INSIDER: “The goal is for us to be running get out the vote, running phone programs, voter ID, voter contact, everything through the Team Nevada headquarters…The RNC has said it is willing to do everything possible as the state party appears not to be willing to work with us, so we will do it without them… Essentially we’re setting up a shadow state party.” http://bit.ly/J0a4hy

OUR TAKE – WATCH FOR MORE OF THIS: Expect rhetorical pushback from the RNC, but Ralston is the best political reporter in Nevada and this fits with what we’ve been hearing. You can expect the Romney operation, coordinating with the RNC, to do more of this in places where the Ron Paul forces are taking control of state party organizations. The stakes are simply too high, the thinking goes, to screw around with newcomers or those whose #1 priority is not electing Romney as president.

GOING NUCLEAR – POTENTIAL $10 MILLION SUPER PAC CAMPAIGN WOULD INVOKE JEREMIAH WRIGHT: “A group of high-profile Republican strategists is working with a conservative billionaire on a proposal to mount one of the most provocative campaigns of the ‘super PAC’ era and attack President Obama in ways that Republicans have so far shied away from,” Jeff Zeleny and Jim Rutenberg write this morning for the Times. “Timed to upend the Democratic National Convention in September, the plan would ‘do exactly what John McCain would not let us do, the strategists wrote. The plan, which is awaiting approval, calls for running commercials linking Mr. Obama to incendiary comments by his former spiritual adviser, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. … [The proposal] was overseen by Fred Davis and commissioned by Joe Ricketts, the founder of the brokerage firm TD Ameritrade…The $10 million plan, one of several being studied by Mr. Ricketts, includes preparations for how to respond to the charges of race-baiting it envisions if it highlights Mr. Obama’s former ties to Mr. Wright, who espouses what is known as “black liberation theology.” http://nyti.ms/L9vhpo

ROMNEY –

CALLS FOR CAUTION ON REGULATIONS AFTER JP MORGAN LOSS: “In his first direct comments on the bank’s missteps, Romney said, ‘I would not rush to pass new legislation or new regulation,’” per Bloomberg. “The presumptive Republican presidential nominee was interviewed in a podcast yesterday with blogger Ed Morrissey of Hot Air in which Romney also addressed his work as a private equity executive. As for JPMorgan, he cautioned, ‘This is, in the normal course of business, a large loss but certainly not one which is crippling or threatening to the institution.’ Though regulators should investigate the trades to understand what happened at the company, Romney framed the loss as an example of capitalism at work. ‘This was not a loss to the taxpayers of America; this was a loss to shareholders and owners of JPMorgan and that’s the way America works,’ he said. ‘The $2 billion JPMorgan lost, someone else gained.’” Listen to Romney’s Ed Morrissey podcast: http://bit.ly/Jy1tIJ. Story: http://bloom.bg/JhxHY1

ALREADY WROTE OFF MASSACHUSETTS: A senior campaign official told the AP on the record yesterday that they have not even discussed spending money to try picking up the 11 electoral votes in the state Romney governed. “If Romney were to lose Massachusetts and still defeat Obama, he would be the first presidential candidate elected without carrying his home state since 1916, when Democratic President Woodrow Wilson retained the White House despite New Jersey's absence from the win column,” per the AP. Reminder: Ronald Reagan carried the Bay State in 1980 and 1984. http://apne.ws/L9lQWM

TRIES TO REASSURE FLORIDA GOP: Romney told Adam Smith, Florida’s top political reporter, he will work to make sure the Sunshine State is treated well at the national convention they are hosting in Tampa, even though they broke the rules. "I don't have an announcement today but you can imagine given the big boost that I got from the people of Florida, the Florida delegation has a very warm spot in my heart,” he said, “so I'll work with the Republican National Committee, which ultimately sets the rules, and you'll know which way I'm pulling.” http://bit.ly/Jybxl3

DISTANCES HIMSELF FROM STAFF PHYSICALLY BLOCKING REPORTERS: “Hours after a kerfuffle that had reporters up in arms over a lack of access to Romney, the candidate himself sought to defuse rising tensions,” per CNN. “Romney chatted briefly with reporters Wednesday on a charter plane shared by the press and campaign staffers - an arrangement Romney's team has infrequently made available to news organizations in recent months. The presumptive GOP nominee demurred when asked if he had directed his campaign to block reporters from approaching him as he shook hands with voters after a speech that morning in St. Petersburg. ‘Just watching, just watching,’ he said of the confrontation between reporters and several staffers anxious to keep them from approaching Romney.” CNN: http://bit.ly/Jix3dM. LA Times: http://lat.ms/J0aDaU.

BROOKINGS STUDY SAYS MORMON PROBLEM OVERBLOWN: “A new study released by the Brookings Institution argues that Mitt Romney’s Mormon religion is unlikely to hurt him at the polls in November,” the New York Times’ David Leonhardt writes. “The researchers based the conclusion on an experiment in which people were asked whether they planned to vote for Mr. Romney or Mr. Obama. Some of the respondents were first given information about Mr. Romney’s religion – and in some cases, quite detailed information – while others were given none. Those who received the information first were no less likely to support Mr. Romney. Such prompting is a common research method in social science, used both to convey information and to put it at the forefront of respondents’ minds.” http://nyti.ms/Jho23z

VEEPSTAKES—

PRO-CHRISTIE AD – $1.6 MILLION SUPER PAC CAMPAIGN TO BOOST POSITIVES: The Committee for Our Children’s Future (CCF), a 501(c)(4) non-profit, is launching its fourth ad since last fall as part of a $1.6 million ad campaign to help Chris Christie. The ad focuses on his efforts to improve education and cut income taxes in New Jersey. Several “men on the street” praise the potential VP’s work and credit reformers in both parties with putting New Jersey on the right track. It will air on New York and Philadelphia broadcast and New Jersey statewide cable stations over the next three weeks. The television ad will be accompanied by a statewide online advertising campaign. ABC’s Jon Karl, helping to fill in for Mike Allen on Playbook as he takes a well-deserved vacation, generously shares the spot: http://bit.ly/JJNPj8.

GROVER NORQUIST WANTS JINDAL: The anti-tax activist praises the Louisiana governor’s record in an op-ed for us. http://politi.co/J024Ni

SABATO THINKS PRE-VP FEEDING FRENZIES MATTER LITTLE: “Media storms and squalls will inevitably burst in the next few months, even though the only candidate-initiated move that might change the electoral calculus before the conventions is Romney's selection of a vice president,” Larry Sabato and Kyle Kondik write in a blog post this morning for the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. Even that big announcement may not move the electoral needle very much, though we all recall the list of modern VP candidates who generated major controversies and full-fledged frenzies: Spiro Agnew (1968), Thomas Eagleton (1972), Geraldine Ferraro (1984), Dan Quayle (1988) and Sarah Palin (2008).” http://bit.ly/KSc8LM

PRIORITIES USA – KERRY CAMPAIGN MANAGER TO HELP OBAMA SUPER PAC: “Priorities USA, which runs a pro-Obama super PAC and has faced fund-raising problems, announced today that Massachusetts native Mary Beth Cahill is joining the group,” the Boston Globe’s Glen Johnson reports. “Cahill, Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s onetime chief of staff and Senator John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign manager, will serve as a consultant on strategy and spending. Cahill is a close personal friend and political ally of Stephanie Cutter, another Massachusetts native and former Kennedy aide who now serves as deputy manager of President Obama’s reelection campaign committee. Cahill brought Cutter into the Kerry campaign after she was hired in late 2003 following initial tumult in the operation.” http://bo.st/JQXxiU

BARRETT DEMANDS WALKER EXPLAIN LEGAL DEFENSE FUND: “Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett demanded Tuesday that Gov. Scott Walker disclose any advice state election officials gave him about forming a defense fund linked to a secret probe of his associates,” according to an AP story that appears to have been picked up by most Badger State dailies. “The Republican governor hasn’t been charged in the investigation but Democrats insist he created the fund because he’s a key figure in the probe. Barrett…sent Walker a letter asking him to share the state Government Accountability Board’s advisory opinion that led him to create the fund. Walker campaign spokeswoman Ciara Matthews…attacked Barrett, saying he’s trying to distract voters from Milwaukee’s unemployment rate and his refusal to explain how he’d manage the state budget.” http://post.cr/KvrS9c

NEBRASKA FALLOUT –

WHAT THE DSCC IS READING-“No sure thing for GOP: a tight battle for the Senate,” by AP’s David Espo: “Divisive Republican primaries, an out-of-nowhere GOP retirement in Maine and an unexpectedly competitive race in North Dakota add up to an unpredictable battle for control of the Senate this fall, confounding early forecasts that an era of Democratic rule was inevitably coming to an end…Republicans claim Nebraska, North Dakota, Missouri and Montana as the states where they have the best chance to pick up seats, followed by Wisconsin, New Mexico and, possibly, Ohio. Democrats point to Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada and perhaps Indiana, where veteran Sen. Richard Lugar fell in a primary to a tea party-backed challenger, as opportunities to offset any losses they suffer elsewhere. They also claim hopes for Arizona.” http://bit.ly/JvY1fU

NATE SILVER FORECASTS:“The most likely outcome to be Republicans winning 50 seats, Democrats 49, and [Angus] King the seat in Maine,” the New York Times blogger says, tacitly acknowledging that there’s lots of guess work going on. “Under those circumstances, the Democrats would retain control of the Senate if Mr. King caucused with them and President Obama won re-election, making Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. the tiebreaking vote. Otherwise, Republicans would control the chamber.” http://nyti.ms/Mn94JU

GOP RALLIES BEHIND FISCHER AT UNITY RALLY: “The day after State Sen. Deb Fischer won the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate, state Republican leaders fired their first broadside against Democrat Bob Kerrey on Wednesday, continuing to hammer at the former Nebraska governor for living in New York City the past dozen years,” per the Lincoln World-Herald. “Gov. Dave Heineman said there was a clear contrast between Fischer and Kerrey that comes down to East Coast vs. Midwest…A bleary-eyed Bruning embraced an equally tired-looking Fischer at the Republicans unity rally -- a tradition held each morning after a primary election to unite the winners and losers behind the victorious nominee…On Wednesday, Bruning made nice with Fischer. ‘Everything is water under the bridge,’ Bruning said…State Treasurer Don Stenberg -- the third major Republican candidate in the race -- also attended and shook Fischer's hand.” http://bit.ly/JiwgJM

DON’T UNDERESTIMATE DEB FISCHER: That’s the takeaway from a batch of what-the-hell-happened, woman-in-the-news stories ordered up by editors yesterday to follow up on the state legislator’s Tuesday upset. Allies and rivals agree that she’s a tenacious, unflinching force in state politics, Dave Catanese reports in one example of the genre: http://politi.co/JJX6HL.

JOHANNS THINKS DEMINT HURT HIMSELF: "I think you have to be very careful entering into the political fray in areas quite honestly you don't understand," Nebraska Republican Sen. Mike Johanns told the Hotline yesterday when asked if there was a message for Jim DeMint, whose Senate Conservatives Fund PAC spent $1.4 million in an failed effort on behalf of state Treasurer Don Stenberg. “Johanns said spending by DeMint's PAC on positive ads for Stenberg -- along with about $700,000 spent by the Club for Growth attacking frontrunning Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning -- helped state Rep. Deb Fischer win the nomination by hurting both Stenberg and Bruning. That view was echoed privately by GOP operatives with ties to Republican Congressional leadership…The fight over the Nebraska Senate primary is highlighting longstanding animosities between senior Senate Republicans, particularly Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and DeMint.” http://bit.ly/MnbRD8

TEXAS SENATE – PERRY ATTACKS DEMINT, CLUB FOR GROWTH: I am a few days later to this, but it’s relevant in light of Nebraska. From The Dallas Morning News: “Gov. Rick Perry has re-upped his backing of front-runner David Dewhurst for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate by implicitly slamming the Club for Growth Action PAC and U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint’s super PAC as duplicitous ‘D.C. insiders’ who are trying to hoodwink Texans. In the Dewhurst campaign's latest 60-second radio ad, dubbed ‘Setting Them Straight,’ Perry reminds primary voters of his and the lieutenant governor's work in helping the Legislature pass balanced budgets five times ‘without raising taxes.’” The Club’s PAC and DeMint are supporting Ted Cruz in the May 29 primary. http://bit.ly/JwEziY

ARIZONA SENATE – CARDON RUNS ATTACK AD AGAINST FLAKE: “Conservative self-funder Wil Cardon, who has been spending heavily to introduce himself on the airwaves, is up with his first direct attack ad against GOP front-runner Rep. Jeff Flake,” Alex Burns scoops. It targets the frontrunner’s past support for a revenue-neutral carbon tax. "Flake's plan raises energy taxes nearly a trillion dollars in 10 years, increasing taxes on coal and gasoline. Higher taxes on businesses. Families will pay $1,000 more a year for utilities and gas," the commercial says. "Flake says his tax is revenue neutral, government will give taxpayers money back. Flake trusts the government with more of our tax dollars." Burns hears the commercial has $301,000 behind it, covering cable and broadcast airtime in Phoenix and Tucson, between May 15 and May 21. http://politi.co/Kalcd9

MASSACHUSETTS SENATE – WARREN TRIES TO CHANGE SUBJECT IN NEW AD: Her new ad, called “People,” touts the watchdog role she played on financial issues at the start of the Obama administration and highlights her personal story (sans claims to Native American ancestry). http://bit.ly/MneyV0

FLORIDA SENATE – ROMNEY FORMALLY ENDORSES MACK: The rollout came after Connie Mack threw his full weight behind Romney in advance of the January primary. The support of the party’s nominee further solidifies his status as frontrunner the primary. It’s a blow to George LeMieux.

VIRGINIA SENATE – KAINE PLANS TO ATTACK ON ENTITLEMENTS: Tim Kaine’s campaign is trying to get George Allen on the defensive, launching a two-week tour of events to highlight what a campaign official describes as “the stark contrast between George Allen’s record of voting to shift Social Security dollars to private accounts and praising plans that drastically alter Medicare and shift costs onto seniors, with Governor Kaine’s commitment to strengthen these programs.” The campaign is also buying online ads micro-targeted at seniors that focus on Medicare and Social Security. The tour began in Northern Virginia and will continue with events in Greater Richmond, the Peninsula, and Southside. The Richmond Times Dispatch: http://bit.ly/Jin7Rt. Local write-up of his stop in Falls Church: http://bit.ly/Jy1goP.

WASHINGTON HOUSE – KUCINICH WILL NOT RUN: “After a year of testing the waters in Washington state, Cleveland Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich has decided against seeking office there and says he will serve the public from outside Congress when his congressional term expires next year,” per the Plain Dealer. "My commitments to peace, to workers' rights and to social and economic justice are constant and are not dependent upon holding an office," Kucinich said in a Wednesday afternoon email to supporters. Story: http://bit.ly/JUYb00. Full email: http://bit.ly/KC5Sbv.

ARIZONA SPECIAL – CANDIDATES CALL EACH OTHER LIARS AT FIRST DEBATE: “The first debate among candidates running to replace former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in the special general election erupted Wednesday into accusations of lying,” the Arizona Republic reports. “Republican Jesse Kelly, 30, and Democrat Ron Barber, 66, engaged in finger-pointing after sparring over hot-button issues such as benefits to seniors, health-care reform and energy…Kelly said he hoped Barber had told his last lie of the campaign when during the debate Barber brought up Kelly calling oil a ‘renewable resource.’ Kelly, a Republican and Iraq War veteran, said his comment, made during a speech this year when he was talking about the large size of U.S. oil resources, was meant as a joke. ‘A man of your stature just lied. How embarrassing,’ said Kelly, a construction project manager. Barber, former district director for Giffords, said Kelly was ‘making things up’ and ‘misinforming’ voters, citing a radio interview in which he said Kelly denied previous comments about wanting to eliminate the minimum wage. ‘You need to tell the truth…,’ said Barber, who ran state programs for the disabled and owned a shop.” So much for civility:http://bit.ly/KvrGqv.

RHODE ISLAND HOUSE – CICILLINE BARELY AHEAD OF DEM CHALLENGER: “Congressman David Cicilline holds a slim lead over his Democratic primary opponent Anthony Gemma with less than four months to go before voters will decide which man should face Republican Brendan Doherty, an exclusive WPRI 12 poll released Wednesday evening shows,” Ted Nesi reports. “The new survey of 302 likely Democratic primary voters in Rhode Island's 1st Congressional District puts Cicilline at 40% and Gemma at 36%, with 20% undecided. Cicilline won the four-way 2010 primary with 37% of the vote, ahead of Gemma with 23%...The poll shows the Sept. 11 party primary will be competitive.” http://bit.ly/J01q2w

LIGHTER CLICKS –

JIMMY KIMMELL decided not to tell this joke at the White House correspondent’s dinner: “Newt Gingrich’s campaign is so dead Mitt Romney wants to baptize it and Rick Santorum wants to put it in a jar and show it to his kids.” http://bit.ly/KaEz5I

DANA PERINO did not know what a “hipster” was, so her Fox News co-hosts explained it to her on air: http://bit.ly/JMRf3B.

HOWARD DEAN had to hang up on a Canadian radio station after a taxi hit the car he was being driven in during an interview: http://bit.ly/KgwM5W.

A SECRET SERVICE AGENT doing advance work for Romney in Connecticut helped motorists after a car crash: http://bit.ly/MlvICG. (h/t Sarah Boxer)

CHARLIE CRIST thought Jim Greer was trying to extort him during the 2010 campaign: http://bit.ly/KgKOo3.

COFFEE DRINKERS may live longer, according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine: http://usat.ly/JMQ8AP.

A REPUBLICAN COUNTY COMMISSIONER suggested during a board meeting in the Florida county hosting the Republican National Convention that the event might draw large numbers of prostitutes: http://bit.ly/JyjAyh.

MINORITY BABIES are now a majority in the United States. The Census says the tipping point came last July: http://wapo.st/Ko8h7f.

CODA – QUOTE OF THE DAY: “In the words of my grandfather, what Gov. Romney did in Massachusetts, ‘I does not care.’” – Herman Cain dismisses concerns about moderate elements in the Republican nominee’s gubernatorial record during a characteristically bizarre press conference in which he officially endorsed him http://cbsn.ws/JTSS0U

Authors:

About The Author

James Hohmann is a reporter for POLITICO Pro.

He covered the 2012 presidential campaign from start to finish, authoring the daily Morning Score tipsheet for nearly two years as he reported from 23 states over the course of the primaries and general election. Through the fall, he traveled with Mitt Romney.

Hohmann spent 2010 chronicling the Republican Party’s drive to win control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

He arrived from The Washington Post at the end of 2009. Previously he wrote for the Los Angeles Times Washington bureau, the Dallas Morning News and The San Jose Mercury News.

An honors graduate of Stanford University, Hohmann studied American political history. He served as editor-in-chief of The Stanford Daily and wrote an award-winning thesis about the 1976 Republican primaries and the political ascendancy of Ronald Reagan.